Supreme experience

In the end, experience won out.

For Gabi Paxson, it was being the senior competitor in the group.

For Skye Wimmer, it was having shown a wide variety of species.

Paxson and Wimmer won the 4-H small and large animal showmanship titles, respectively, Thursday at the Jay County Fair.

Wimmer came into the competition already having experience showing pigs, goats, cows and sheep.

“It’s a really big accomplishment,” she said. “This has been my biggest goal, especially in my last year.”

A nine-year 4-H member, Paxson had the most show experience in the small animal group that also included Kristy Robbins (dog) and siblings Justice (rabbit) and Makinsey Murphy (cat).

“I’ve really worked hard in the poultry showmanship to get to this point,” she said. “It’s crazy to think that I won it.”

Wimmer was triumphant in her return. She competed at the Randolph County Fair a year ago because her trip to junior nationals with her Angus steer fell on the same week as the Jay County Fair.

A large animal supreme showmanship finalist in 2017 when Alli Campbell won the trophy, Wimmer was focused on taking the title this year. As part of that process, she participated in the sheep show for the first time, which she said helped her during Thursday’s competition.

“To be able to be good at every species is just a huge deal,” she said. “I knew sheep was one of my weaknesses, so I got sheep this year just so I could try to achieve my goal.”

Though she had the longest 4-H tenure amongst the small animal showmanship competitors, Paxson had never shown rabbits, cats or dogs before. She knew she was in for a challenge, she said, as the Murphy siblings both have experience with cats and rabbits.

Her biggest obstacle of the day was the cat portion of the competition, as the animal wasn’t keen on staying still.

“I just stayed calm the whole time and just went with it,” said Paxson. “You never know what you’re going to get, so I decided I would just go with the flow.”

Wimmer had confidence in her abilities with pigs and goats, having shown both for the better part of a decade. It was during the first phase of the competition — the horses — that she was most nervous.

“I was terrified I was going to do something wrong and my horse was going to act up,” she said. “You pretty much just have to stay calm and let the horse do what it’s going to do … How you react, it will react the same way.”

Paxson is a longtime member of the poultry, sheep and goat barns, and she showed swine for the first time this year. She is also involved in FFA and enjoys riding horses.

Her win was the third in a row in the small animal competition for the poultry barn, as she followed 2018 champion Dillon Muhlenkamp and 2017 winner Asilyn Davis.

Paxson had a long day Thursday as she also represented the sheep barn in the large animal competition. She hopes to take what she learned to return next year to claim the large animal trophy.

“It was really tiring, but it’s also very rewarding,” said Paxson, who will be a senior at Jay County High School this year and plans to then attend Purdue University to major in for veterinary medicine. “I know what I can improve on for next year.”

Wimmer, who is headed to Purdue University to study agriculture business, earned her trophy in a field that include three returning 2018 competitors — Carissa Mercer (dairy), Bretton Basford (meat goat) and Sara Hemmelgarn (dairy beef) — as well as Cash Hollowell (horse), Emily Chenoweth (swine), Rachel Heitkamp (dairy goat) and Paxson, who represented the sheep barn during the 2017 event.

She has shown meat goats, swine, beef cattle and sheep during her 4-H career and is a member of FFA. She’s been involved in band and volleyball in the past, but “I usually just revolve my life around my livestock,” she said.

“It just started at a young age,” she added. “It became my passion very early when my siblings showed. I just loved it. It takes complete dedication. It’s just what I love to do. So my life I dedicated it. That’s what you have to do if you want to do good.”